Rhodium-catalyzed carbonylative arylation of alkynes with arylboronic acids: an efficient and straightforward method in the synthesis of 5-aryl-2(5H)-furanones

Rh-Catalyzed Carbonylative Cyclization of Propargylic Alcohols with Aryl Boronic Acids

2(3H)-Furanones are tremendously important not only because of their wide occurrence in bioactive compounds but also due to their versatility in organic synthesis. Here, a straightforward approach to 2(3H)-furanones from readily available tertiary propargylic alcohols with arylboronic acids in the presence of CO using rhodium as a catalyst has been established. The method exhibits a broad substrate scope tolerating useful functional groups with a moderate to high stereoselectivity.

A Rh(iii)-catalyzed regioselective intermolecular oxa-Pauson–Khand reaction of alkynes, arylboronic acids and CO to form butenolides

A Rh(iii)-catalyzed regioselective intermolecular oxa-Pauson–Khand reaction of arylboronic acids, alkynes and CO for the synthesis of butenolides has been developed.

Homogeneous rhodium(i)-catalysis in de novo heterocycle syntheses

Rh(i)-catalysed reactions often employ mild reaction conditions and offer excellent functional group tolerance, making them ideal transformations for the preparation of complex molecules. This review surveys examples of these synthetically useful transformations as applied to the synthesis of various heterocycles.

Naturally active oligostilbenes

Many naturally occurring oligostilbenes have drawn considerable attention because of their intricate structures and diverse biological activities. In recent years, oligostilbene bioactivities have become a popular research topic worldwide. Although these bioactivities are known to be extensive and several summaries on the activities of the compounds have been published, a comprehensive and systematic summary on active oligostilbenes is unavailable. From January 2005 to December 2013, a large number of active oligostilbenes and corresponding new bioactivities were reported in the literature. This review mainly focuses on the diverse bioactivities of oligostilbenes with various backbones.

Pd-catalyzed carbonylative conjugate addition of dialkylzinc reagents to unsaturated carbonyls

The Pd-catalyzed addition of organozinc reagents to unsaturated carbonyls in the presence of carbon monoxide provides 1,4-diketones in good yield. The reaction was studied with a number of substituted cyclic and acyclic ketones as well as alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes.